Rice noodles known in South East Asia under the name of "Beehoon" are traditionally produced domestically and in small-scale by processes based on a small number of basic operations, including soaking grains of rice, wet milling, pre- and post-gelatinization, cooling and mechanical working of the dough. These basic operations are linked and/or repeated in order to give the rice dough cohesiveness. Beehoon noodles have an elastic texture, but also have a cohesion comparable with that of traditional noodles based on wheat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,563 (Lechthaler) discloses a process for the production of starchy plant noodles of the Beehoon type by gelatinization, extrusion, and drying. More specifically, a dough is prepared having a water content of from 35% to 55% and comprises a flour or semolina of the starchy plant and an ionic gelling agent. The dough is gelatinized by heating and kneading under pressure, cooled to a temperature below 100.degree. C., extruded in the form of pasta, immediately brought into contact with water containing a cation, which forms a gel with the ionic gelling agent, and dried.